September 20 – Argentina remain at the top of the latest FIFA World Rankings, leading an unchanged top ten that sees France and Spain hold their positions in second and third. 

England remain fourth, despite securing back-to-back victories over Ireland and Finland under new manager Lee Carsley, while Brazil stay in fifth despite a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Paraguay which dented their World Cup qualification chances slightly.

Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal occupy sixth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively, with the point gaps between them narrowing. Copa America runners-up Colombia hold ninth place, with Italy rounding out the top ten.

Further down the rankings, San Marino made headlines by gaining points but not moving up in the table, following their historic win against Liechtenstein. They remain rock bottom in 210th, with 209th-placed Anguilla remarkably also picking up an elusive victory which saw them fend off the bottom rank.

Meanwhile, Qatar suffered a significant drop of ten places after drawing against North Korea and losing to the UAE as the Asian Cup Champions tasted defeat for first time since 2023.

AFC teams saw plenty of movement, with Japan and Iran climbing up the rankings, while Australia and Qatar both dropped. In fact, Qatar fell the most out of any team in the world (10 places), whilst Australia lost the most points (-26.99), resulting in Socceroos coach Graham Arnold stepping down from his role as head coach this morning.

Scotland’s recent struggles saw them fall out of the top 50, pairing a fruitless Euro 2024 with a 2-3 home loss to Poland and 2-1 away defeat to Portugal in the Nations League.

In Africa, Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire were the biggest success stories of the update, as both moved up five places each following back-to-back convincing victories in AFCON qualification.

The next update to the rankings will take place October 24 following the international break.

To see the full ranking click here.

Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1726839995labto1726839995ofdlr1726839995owedi1726839995sni@g1726839995niwe.1726839995yrrah1726839995